"The crown. . .and the machine Clara used to turn Bridgette into a monster."
Everyone was all sitting in my room while I stood, a whiteboard right in front of me. On the board, I had written two things down: crown, and machine, and now everyone else was all waiting for me to explain it.
"Just like Laura had said before, the crown and machine must have collided with some dark magic, because one; the crown being placed on my head and Bridgette finally snapping all happened at the same exact time. And two; both crown and machine had the same purpose: to give out powers. What if. . .what if the crown and the machine are the only two things keeping Bridgette and I connected? And what if the machine is the only thing keeping Bridgette like this?" I sighed as I placed my marker down. "What I'm trying to say is. . .Bridgette was once an ordinary human, until Clara created the machine and turned her like this. I think all it takes to get Bridgette to stop is by destroying that machine."
I breathed in and out after saying my words. I wasn't completely sure if my guess was correct, but I was willing to give everything a try. Looking over at the others, I could see they felt the same way just by telling from their faces. I sat down on one of the seats in my room, giving them all serious faces. "And. . ." I continued. "If this doesn't work. . .I have a plan B." I didn't want to tell them what plan B was, at least, not now.
"Then what are we waiting for? We better get started!" Nino gave a little clap, looking at everyone before turning to the door. "Where do we start, Marinette? The quicker we get this done, well. . .the better. We have to stop Bridgette, just as we promised."
"Laura is against us now," I informed them, sadness biting at the edge of my words. The end of my lips tugged into a small smile after that. "And we still don't know where Bridgette is staying at. For the last memory I experienced, she was at this tiny cabin, but I wasn't exactly sure where that was, and I doubt that's where the machine is at." I then stood up from where I was sitting. "This isn't going to be easy, guys, but at least we have a plan. We don't know where Bridgette is, but we can try someplace else. The house where Clara, Laura and Bridgette used to live together. I was in their house before, unfortunately, I don't remember the location. I'm not even sure if the house is still up now, but it has to be. It's been so many years, but our best shot is that house. It's most likely where the machine still is.
"Maman and Papa were close with Clara, so I'm sure they knew where she lived. We're going to pay the bakery a visit, search inside as best as we can to find some information. They must have put it somewhere in there." I couldn't stop staring at the floor, and though remembering about my dead parents, and how the bakery had gotten closed down because of it, it saddened me still. . .but I forced myself not to let the tears out. We were so close. I could just feel it. I turned around to face the others, but before I could even open my mouth to speak, the door suddenly banged opened and a frantic-looking maid stepped inside.
"Y-Your Majesty. . .there's something happening downstairs. You must come down straight away!" Those were the only words she said before leaving the room. It was then that we all heard a bunch of noises coming from downstairs. My hands trembled, and I shut my eyes for a second, hoping there wasn't another problem to face. My friends were already leaving the room, heading downstairs, so I gathered up all the courage I needed and followed them out.
It was chaos downstairs. All my classmates had gone wild, grabbing ahold of sharp things, breaking glasses and such. I watched as a few of them ripped off curtains, some shatted the glass tables we had, others opened up drawers taking out whatever they could. I even saw a few of them throwing a bunch of onions and whatnot towards the maids and servants there. The sight made be freeze to my spot. It was like I was unable to move, and the only thing I could do was watch as it all unfolded right in front of me. The next thing that happened got me to frown in confusion. They all headed to the large front doors, Ivan opening them up and all of them leaving the palace, holding onto whatever they've picked up.
"They're out of their minds!" Chloe exclaimed out loud. "We need to hurry. This is obviously all Bridgette's doing. I feel like Bridgette is planning something as well-"
"Follow them!"
I could feel their eyes on me after the two words I'd spoken out. But I didn't stop to explain, instead calling for a few bodyguards to follow, and then rushing out of the palace. The others had no idea what was going on, I could tell, but they followed me anyway. We took the limo, Louis in the drivers seat as usual. I could see a few of my classmates running, while others had managed to get on some vehicles. The first thing I noticed though was that they were all going towards the same direction.
"Follow them," I repeated again, and Louis obeyed.
-
Just like I'd thought, they were all heading to one location. Bridgette must have called them. I couldn't help asking how she'd done it though. Maybe when she gave them those potions, she had the ability to call them over whenever she wanted. We were in the limo, a bit far away from my classmates, but we could just make out the big house they were heading to. When they reached the entrance, the door just opened up for them and they all started heading in.
I waited until all of them were inside and the door banged closed again, before I ordered Louis to keep moving. We reached and parked right in front of the house. The doors opened and we all stepped out one by one. "This is it." This is it. I don't know what gave me this feeling or how I'd gotten it. . . but I just had the feeling that this house was what we were looking for. . . where Bridgette lived, or at least, used to live with Clara and Laura. I motioned for them to follow and they did, me leading in front. I got to the door and took the knob, before twisting it and pushing it. Unexpectedly, the door opened up.
"Wait!" A hand grabbed my arm and when I turned around, I could see it'd been Chloe. "This is a trap. It has to be. I mean, come on! The door is opened, but that's because Bridgette left it opened for us. She's expecting us!"
I knew she was right. I turned my head over to Louis, unsure of what to do at the moment. "Call the police department to bring over all their police officers, or at least most of them. Tell them it's the Queen's order!" Louis immediately nodded and took out his phone to make the call. I turned back to the entrance. "Bridgette wouldn't kill me, because if I die, she dies as well. I'm sure she knows that by now." I gave the others one last look, before stepping inside the house.
As soon as I stepped inside though, the door all of a sudden banged shut. I whirled around and grabbed ahold of the knob, pulling it, but it wouldn't budge. Though I couldn't hear them, I could tell the others were trying to get the door opened as well, yet, it didn't look like they were succeeding at all. I took in a sharp breath, knowing this was all Bridgette's doing. A sudden sound of glass breaking caught my attention though, getting me to step away from the door and start walking towards where the sound had come from. I knew it was probably not the best idea to go alone, but I really believed I wouldn't get killed. Bridgette wouldn't do that. She just wouldn't.
Another breaking glass sounded, and telling from how close it sounded to me, I knew I was close. Soon enough, I was standing right in front of a door. It wasn't closed all the way, so I pressed my palm against it and pushed it lightly. I winced slightly when the loud speaking of the opening door sounded, but that didn't stop me from fully opening it. I walked through the door, walked a bit more before I came across the same trapdoor that led down to the basement. Looking around, I could definitely tell this was the same house I'd been in before, the same house where I'd seen Bridgette murder Clara. This was the same trapdoor I'd used to climb down to the basement the last time.
I knew what was waiting for me down there: all my classmates were going to be there, probably waiting to attack me but couldn't, and Bridgette would be there as well. I didn't know what she had planned for me, and to be quite honest, I had no idea what I had planned for her either. What was going to happen when I got down there? What was she going to do?
When my foot touched the last step of the ladder, I stopped and looked down at the basement. Bridgette was standing there, like I had expected, but she was way on the other side, and her body wasn't the first thing I'd set my eyes on. My breathing become slower, and so did the rest of my body movements as I stepped down on the hard floor of the basement. All around the room were not one, not two, not even just three. . . but all of my classmates lying around with blood everywhere.
Dead.
"You killed them."
"I didn't need them anymore." Bridgette's sadistic laughter could be heard from all the way here. "I just wanted to give you a little surprise, Marinette, but telling from your face, I suppose. . . this is a huge surprise. Isn't it?"
Of all the things I'd expected, this hadn't crossed my mind at all. I saw my classmates as her spawns, people she needed in order to take me down. But instead, she led them all here just to kill them off one by one, and have me see their dead bodies in the end. On the spot, the only thing I felt then was heated anger. It felt like I had no more tears left to cry, so all my sadness fumbled themselves into anger and more hatred for the woman standing a distance away from me, smirking as if she'd already won. And with my anger, I didn't think. I couldn't!
I leaned down and grabbed one of the knifes I saw lying around, before making my way towards Bridgette in a fast motion. "You little. . . bit*h!" I aimed the knife towards her stomach, but before I could shove it in, I stopped. The tip of the knife was so close to her stomach that if I made one more move, that weapon was going through. But I couldn't, and I knew I couldn't. It felt tempting to just take her out right this moment, but it wasn't a smart move to do, because killing this psychopath meant ending myself as well.
"I dare you to do it, Marinette. I dare you!" She stood there, smirking, her eyes shining with such demonic evilness. It was only when I looked closely that I realized Bridgette was wearing the exact same clothes as I was wearing, almost as if she already knew what I'd planned to wear. Before I could take a step back though, she raised her fist and had it make contact with my nose. My body landed on the ground in an instant, and touching my nose, I could feel the blood oozing out. But looking over at her, I noticed she had a bloody nose too.
Bridgette didn't seem to care about what happened to her body. She simply leaned down, grabbing ahold of my hair tightly which made me scream in pain. It was only then that she banged my face back down to the ground with full force. While I tried to get up, I was doing everything I could not to let the tears seep through, because I knew as soon as that happened, it would be all over for me. I would be showing a sign of weakness, and I didn't want Bridgette to see me as some weakling she could take down easily. My eyes did a quick scan of the room and I only winced when I realized the machine I was trying to find was no where to be seen. It was then that my eyes landed on a door right behind Bridgette herself, and seeing that made a small bit of hope spark through my body.
Bridgette grabbed me by the arm and didn't hesitate to shove me into the wall, my back banging against it. I looked up in time to see her wince in pain at the same time as me. It was like she knew she was hurting herself by hurting me, but just didn't want to stop. She was much more stronger than me, could endure the pain much more better than I could, after all, she'd been through so much. Not only had that machine turned her into a murderous psychopath, but it'd made her much stronger as well, one of the things that were different between us.
Bridgette got down to her knees. Telling from the way she wobbled around, I knew no matter how strong she was, all this was beginning to tire her out as well. She grabbed my hair again and pulled me close, before whispering to me with a scoff;
"I hate being connected. . . to such a loser!"
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1 more chapter left :)